Starry Night
by SweetenedSpoilers
Summary: The Doctor and Clara visit the children's ward of a hospital on Christmas eve, and meet a young cancer patient. The Doctor can save entire worlds, but he can't stop an unbeatable disease. He can, however, show a little boy the stars.


**AN: This is just a quick oneshot that was inspired by a prompt I received for a holiday ficlet with the Eleventh doctor and a seven year old boy with cancer that couldn't be saved. But don't worry, it's not as sad as all of that. Kind of. Enjoy!**

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It had been Clara's idea.

Her explanation about how this was something she used to do before she became a nanny drifted past his ears as they stepped out of the TARDIS, the pine needle boughs and peppermint candy canes not nearly enough to mask the antiseptic scent that permeated the hallway. Cheerful music played as nurses in elf hats scurried by, carrying trays of Christmas pudding and holiday crackers to the children with tired smiles.

The doctor and Clara began weaving through the rooms, saying hello to the young patients and performing tricks with the sonic screwdriver until they came to one room and paused in the doorway. A little boy was sitting on a cot, his white paper robe crinkling as he cried—silently.

_When a child cries silently, it's because they just can't stop. _

The doctor adjusted his bowtie, cleared his throat, and walked in. "Hello," he said. "I'm the Doctor, and this is my friend Clara."

The little boy sniffed. "Another doctor isn't going to make a difference. I heard Dr. Jones talking to mummy. They didn't know I was listening, but they said…they said that I'm dying," he whispered.

"Oh, but I'm sure that's not—" The doctor shook his head at Clara to silence her, because he knew.

Cancer.

Over a thousand years of time and space, countless planets and galaxies saved, explored, and preserved, but he couldn't fix this. This thing that snuffed out lives and took them away like his family was taken away, like his people were, like Amy or Rory or River who disappeared forever. "I'm afraid. I don't want to die," the child continued quietly.

"What's your name?" Clara asked softly.

"Joshua," the little boy replied.

The Doctor took in the personal touches around the room that Joshua's parents must have set up on the shelf and side table. There was a star-patterned blanket, adding much needed softness to the bed with metal bars, and a solar system diorama and toy rocket ship providing color to the gray room. "What do you want to be when you grow up, Joshua?" The Doctor asked gently.

"An astronaut," Joshua replied.

"Well, then," the Doctor said, "how would you like to see the stars right now?"

ooo

Clara gripped Joshua's hand as they entered the TARDIS, and for the first time a wide, toothy grin stretched across the pale boy's face. "It's bigger on the inside," he said with a laugh. The Doctor let Clara explain the TARDIS to Joshua as he ran around the console, punching in coordinates and twisting dials.

"Okay," he said, making sure to leave the old girl in orbit as he approached the other two. The doctor put his hand lightly between Joshua's shoulder blades and led him to the TARDIS's front doors, giving the boy an expectant look and pulling them open.

"Wow," Joshua breathed, pushing his glasses back up his nose as he took in the swirling pinks and purples, the impossible blacks and blues and oranges streaked with silver bands and dotted with fantastic balls of white starlight. The Doctor crouched down until he was eye level with the seven year old.

"I'm the Doctor," he stated once again. "I'm a Time Lord from Gallifrey and I'm over a thousand years old. My people," he said, looking back out at the stars surrounding them, "used to say that when we die our souls are released into the universe, flashing through the endless sky and traveling between the stars. Like astronauts," he smiled, looking down at Joshua.

Joshua nodded at him, turning back to their surroundings and reaching his hand out, awe and pure joy written across his face. They stayed that way for hours, the TARDIS humming behind them as Joshua drank in the swirling galaxy and listened to tale after tale that the Doctor and Clara fed him of their adventures. Finally, he turned to them and said, "I'm ready to go back now."

ooo

"It was wonderful to meet you, Joshua," Clara said, hugging the boy tightly to her chest. "You have a Happy Christmas, okay?" Joshua smiled sweetly and nodded as she rubbed a thumb over his cheek, kissed the top of his head, and stood up to stand by the TARDIS. The Doctor crouched down, enfolding the child in a hug of his own.

"Thank you, Doctor."

The Doctor looked at him and smiled, eyes a little wet as he pulled back. "You'll remember what I said about the stars, eh, Joshua?"

The little boy bobbed his head again. "I will."

As he got up to leave he heard Joshua call out, "Goodbye, Doctor."

"Goodbye, Joshua," he replied.

As he and Clara were about to enter the TARDIS, parked around the corner from Joshua's room, a woman rushed by and headed for the child, not noticing the pair as she sat on the edge of Joshua's hospital bed. She stroked her hand through Joshua's hair as she said, "I'm sorry I was gone for so long, love. The doctors and I had to have a talk. I know you heard what they said earlier—"

"It's okay, mummy," Joshua said as his mother pulled him onto her lap. "I'm not afraid anymore."

She gave him a wobbly smile and held him close, the sound of the TARDIS echoing faintly through the hospital as Joshua told his mum about the stars.


End file.
